How to Write a Haiku Poem (with Sample Poems) - wikiHow How to Write a Haiku Poem Four Parts: Sample Haiku Choose a Haiku Subject Use Sensory Language Become a Haiku Writer Community Q&A Haiku (俳句 high-koo) are short three-line poems with a 5-7-5 syllable structure that use sensory language to capture a feeling or image. They are often inspired by an element of nature, a moment of beauty, or another poignant experience. Haiku poetry was originally developed by Japanese poets, and the form was adopted (and adapted) by virtually every modern language, including English. The secret to writing great haiku is to be observant and appreciate nature, as detailed below. Steps Choose a Haiku Subject 1 Distill a poignant experience. Haiku traditionally focuses on details of one's environment that relate to the human condition. Think of a haiku as a meditation of sorts that conveys an objective image or feeling without employing subjective judgment and analysis. When you see or notice something that makes you want to say to others, "Look at that," the experience may well be suitable for a haiku.

Japanese poets traditionally used haiku to capture and distill a fleeting natural image, such as a frog jumping into a pond, rain falling onto leaves, or a flower bending in the wind. Many people go for walks just to find new inspiration for their poetry, known in Japan as ginkgo walks. Contemporary haiku may stray from nature as a subject. Urban environments, emotions, relationships and even humorous topics may be haiku subjects. 2 Include a seasonal reference. [1] A reference to the season or changing of the seasons, referred to in Japanese as kigo, is an essential element of haiku. The reference may be obvious, as in using a word like "spring" or "autumn" to indicate the season, or it might be subtler. For example, mentioning wisteria, which flower during the summer, can subtly indicate the season. Note the kigo in this poem by Fukuda Chiyo-ni: morning glory! Use Sensory Language 1 Describe the details. Haiku are comprised of details observed by the five senses. The poet witnesses an event and uses words to distill that experience so others may understand it in some way.

Once you have chosen a subject for your haiku, think about what details you want to describe. Call the subject to mind and explore these questions: What did you notice about the subject? What colors, textures, and contrasts did you observe? How did the subject sound? What was the tenor and volume of the event that took place? Did it have a smell, or a taste? How can you accurately describe the way it felt? 2 Show, don't tell. Haiku are about moments of objective experience, not subjective interpretation or analysis of those events. Haiku have been called "unfinished" poetry because they require the readers to finish the poems in their own hearts. Because of this, it's important to show the readers something true about the moment's existence, rather than telling the readers what emotions it conjured in you. [2] Let the readers feel their own emotions in reaction to the images — as poets, we understand the need to bare all, but the very universality of haiku ensures that your readers will get the message, so don't fret, fellow poet. Use understated, subtle imagery. For instance, instead of saying it's summer, focus on the slant of the sun or the heavy air.

Don't use clichés. Lines that readers recognize, such as "dark, stormy night," tend to lose their power over time. Ponder the image you want to describe and use inventive, original language to convey meaning. Don't overuse a thesaurus to find uncommon words; rather, simply write about what you saw and want to express in the truest language you know. Part 3 Become a Haiku Writer 1 Be inspired. In the tradition of the great haiku poets, go outside for inspiration. Take a walk and tune in to your surroundings. Which details in your environment speak to you? What makes them stand out? Carry a notebook to write down lines as they come to you. You never know when the sight of a stone in a stream, a rat skipping over subway tracks, or a cap of clouds over hills in the distance might inspire you to write a haiku. Read other haiku writers. The beauty and simplicity of the haiku form has inspired thousands of writers in many different languages. Reading other haiku can help spur your own imagination into motion. 2 Practice. Like any other art, haiku takes practice.

Bashō, who is considered to be the greatest haiku poet of all time, said that each haiku should be said a thousand times on the tongue. Draft and redraft every poem until the meaning is perfectly expressed. Remember that you don't have to adhere to the 5–7–5 syllable pattern, and that a true literary haiku includes a kigo, a two-part juxtapositional structure, and primarily objective sensory imagery. While drafting, use adverbs sparingly if at all — many adverbs can be dropped without compromising meaning, and they take up syllables that could be used for description. Similar advice applies to long or flowery words — the point of haiku is to reveal simple and universal truths, and your extensive vocabulary is better suited to a longer poetic form. 3 Communicate with other poets. For serious students of haiku, it is worthwhile to join organizations such as the Haiku Society of America, Haiku Canada, the British Haiku Society, or one of the many similar organizations elsewhere in the world. It is also worthwhile to subscribe to leading haiku journals such as Modern Haiku and Frogpond to learn more about the art form.

Community Q&A Is there a minimum or maximum number of lines I can write and do they need to rhyme? wikiHow Contributor Yes, you have to write three lines in a haiku but they do not have to rhyme (unless you want them to). How many lines can I put in a haiku? Is it limited to just three lines in one paragraph, or can I use multiple paragraphs? wikiHow Contributor You can use multiple paragraphs, just like the examples. But each paragraph (or stanza, rather) must follow the right syllable format in order to be considered a haiku. Do Haiku poems have a word limit? wikiHow Contributor Technically, 17 words, as they are limited to 5 syllables in the first line, 7 in the second, and 5 in the last. However, this presumes that each word is a single syllable; any words using multiple syllables would reduce the number from 17. Why are haiku poems so short? wikiHow Contributor It's supposed to be a simple message that captures a simple feeling, and leaves further reflection/imagination up to the reader. That's simply what this particular style was designed for.

You are free to write a poem of any length and any syllable scheme you want - it just won't be called a haiku. Does a haiku need a title? wikiHow Contributor As with other written art forms, it could have a title or simply be "Untitled." Haiku with titles may be more memorable. Why is haiku called 'haiku'? wikiHow Contributor Haikus were created in Japan and originally called "haikai no ku," which translates to "light verse." That was eventually simplified to "haiku." How many syllables it should have? wikiHow Contributor Can a haiku rhyme? wikiHow Contributor If this question (or a similar one) is answered twice in this section, please click here to let us know. Tips Unlike Western poems, haikus generally don't rhyme or use enjambment — that is, each line contains a complete phrase or thought without running over to the next line. Contemporary haiku poets may write poems that are just a short fragment with three or fewer words. Some people also write "mini-haiku" with 3–5–3 syllables.

Haiku originated from haikai no renga, a collaborative group poem that is usually one hundred verses in length. The hokku, or starting verse, of renga collaborations indicated the season and also contained a cutting word. The haiku as its own form of poetry continues in this tradition. How to Write a Haiku Poem How to Write a Haiku Poem Haiku poetry follows a certain recipe. Just like chocolate chip cookies have to have chocolate chips in them to be a chocolate chip cookie, a haiku poem has to have certain elements, or ingredients, to be a Haiku poem. What Is a Haiku Poem? What makes a poem a Haiku poem and not a chocolate chip cookie? Three lines, that don’t rhyme, with seventeen syllables. Five syllables in the first and third line, and seven syllables in the second line. Each haiku “must contain a kigo. A word that indicates the season in which the poem is set,” according to the World Book Encyclopedia, page eight, volume nine, between the words Douglas Haig and Hail, and according to Japanese tradition. The word that indicates season can be obvious, like ice to indicate winter.

Or it can be more subtle, like using the expression fragrant blossom to indicate spring. The words and expressions in the poem are usually simple and deal with everyday situations and feelings. Usually, haiku does not contain metaphors and similes. Haikus Are About a Single Moment “Haiku explores a single moment’s precise perception and resinous depths.” — Jane Hirshfield, The Heart of Haiku Matsuo Bashō, a popular Japanese poet, composed this poem in the late 1600’s. old pond: furuike ya kawazu tobikomu mizu no oto How to Write a Haiku Poem Our teacher for this lesson is Matsuo Bashō, a popular Japanese Poet from the 1600’s. Bashō will show us how to write a haiku poem. Jane Hirshfield explains in her book, The Heart of Haiku, how Bashō encourages us, to see for ourselves, hear for ourselves, and if we enter deeply enough this seeing and hearing, all things will speak with and through us.

“To learn about the pine tree go to the pine tree; to learn from the bamboo, study bamboo.” — Matsu Bashō, Jane Hirshfield, The Heart of Haiku Using the four guidelines mentioned above, think of an everyday situation, feeling, or a precious moment. Such as a blade of grass, a sink full of dirty dishes in the spring, a warm cat, or the sound of snow falling. If your haiku poem is about something that has happened in your past, if you are remembering a snowfall from last winter, then sit in a quiet spot and go to the memory. Remember the snow. Use all of your senses. Think of what you heard, felt, tasted, smelled and saw. Let us live the moment with you. If your haiku is about a blade of grass, as Bashō said, go to the grass. Yes, that’s right. Go outside right now and lay down in the grass and let the single blade of grass speak through you. Study the grass. If you are writing about a warm cat, go to the cat and study the cat. Study the sink full of dirty dishes while you wash them. To learn about snow go to the snow. “ Haiku who? Hi!

Ku-djah help me write a haiku? This is not a haiku. This is a knock knock joke about writing haikus. But your Haiku will have three lines with five syllables in the first line, seven syllables in the second line, and five syllables in the third line. If you are not sure how many syllables are in a word, you can check out your word on Mirriam-Webster , an on-line dictionary. Haiku poetry is a form of poetry that is stripped down to the bare essentials. Words that show but don’t tell. Would you like to write a Haiku poem? Or would you rather make chocolate chip cookies? Just remember to put the chocolate chips in, or it will just be a cookie. PRACTICE Practice staring at a blade of grass for fifteen minutes . No, I have a better idea. Come and help me wash my dishes. We can both write about washing dishes. Okay, seriously now. Please write your thoughts down about something you see in your everyday world, and then try to fit it to the five-seven-five pattern. Write a haiku poem and share it with us in the comments. You can also share it on our Facebook page .

Then please be kind and comment on someone else’s work. Wishing you all my best. xo How to write a haiku - Poetry Writing WebQuest Poetry Writing WebQuest Home ‎ > ‎ Step 1 ‎ > ‎ Haiku ‎ > ‎ How to write a haiku 1. Look at your free verse poem and then transform it into a haiku. A traditional Japanese haiku poem has: 17 syllables 2nd line: 7 syllables 3rd line 5 syllables * Note that an English haiku does not have to have 17 syllables. 17 syllables should be the maximum. It should have three lines and have about 11-13 syllables. Some more features of a traditional Japanese haiku are that they: Use simple, direct, non-metaphorical language. Do not use abstract words. Captures a transitory insight or moment in time, in other words an "aha moment". Contains a kigo, or an image of nature that evokes a particular season Usually contains a pivot word that turns the movement of the poem in some way. Why “No 5-7-5”?

- NaHaiWriMo NaHaiWriMo National Haiku Writing Month starts on 1 February 2017 This site and “No 5-7-5” logo copyright © 2010–2017 National Haiku Writing Month ‎ > ‎ Why “No 5-7-5”? Okay, this essay is long, but give it a read if you want to understand why it’s an urban myth to think of English-language haiku merely in terms of 5-7-5 syllables. National Haiku Writing Month (NaHaiWriMo) is not really anti-5-7-5, but counting syllables is hardly the only target for haiku (if at all). Find out why you don’t need to aim at such a syllable pattern in English. + “The term syllable is an inaccurate way of describing the actual metrical units of Japanese poetry.” —Haruo Shirane, in his introduction to Kōji Kawamoto’s The Poetics of Japanese Verse (Tokyo: University of Tokyo Press, 2000) “I don’t think counting 5,7,5 syllables is necessary or desirable.

To reflect the natural world, and the season, is to reflect what is.” —Gary Snyder You may have thought that haiku was supposed to be 5-7-5, so what’s up with the logo for National Haiku Writing Month—NaHaiWriMo? Is haiku 5-7-5 or not? Well, yes and no. In Japanese, yes, haiku is indeed traditionally 5-7-5. But 5-7-5 what? In English and other languages, haiku has mistakenly been taught as having 5-7-5 syllables, but that’s not really accurate. You probably aren’t in the mood for a linguistics lecture that explains all the reasons why, but Japanese haiku counts sounds, not strictly syllables. For example, the word “haiku” itself counts as two syllables in English (hi-ku), but three sounds in Japanese (ha-i-ku). This isn’t how “haiku” is said in Japanese, but it is how its sounds are counted. Similarly, consider “Tokyo.” How many syllables?

Most Westerners, thinking that Japan’s capital city is pronounced as “toe-key-oh,” will say three syllables, but that’s incorrect. It’s actually pronounced as “toe-kyo.” So two syllables, right? Actually, no. Rather, it counts as “toe-oh-kyo-oh”—four syllables. Or rather, sounds. There are other differences, too. For example, if a word ends with the letter “n,” that letter is counted as a separate sound (all words in Japanese end with vowels, or sometimes the “n” sound). So how many sounds are counted in the word “Nippon,” Japan’s name for itself? It actually counts as four sounds (nip-p-on-n). And consider words that Japanese has borrowed from other languages, and how they gain more sounds in Japanese. For example, “Christmas” (with its consonant clusters) becomes something like “ka-ri-sa-ta-ma-su” or “ka-ri-sa-ma-su.” In The Haiku Apprentice, Abigail Friedman points out that “scarf” becomes “su-ka-a-fu”—an increase from one syllable to four sounds.

In The Poetics of Japanese Verse, Koji Sakamoto uses the word “sign” as a further example. We would count it as one syllable, but the Japanese would count it as three sounds (sigh-ya-n). Sure, some words have the same number of sounds (for example, “sushi” is two sounds or syllables in both languages), but there are enough words that count differently for practically all translators, linguists, scholars, and leading haiku poets to say and show that about 10 to 14 syllables is approximately equal to the 17 sounds they count in Japanese haiku. If you’re writing a poem of 17 syllables in English, you’re actually writing something that contains significantly more content than 17 sounds contain in Japanese. In fact, I would even say that writing 5-7-5 syllables in English is a violation of the haiku form rather than a preservation of it. Furthermore, Japanese has another difference that makes 5-7-5 syllables sort of an “urban myth” for haiku in English. In addition to counting sounds and syllables differently, most Japanese words tend to have more sounds or syllables than their English counterparts.

For example, when we say “cuckoo” (two syllables), the Japanese say “hototogisu” (five syllables). Some Japanese words have the same number of syllables as their English equivalents (and occasionally fewer), but a great majority of Japanese words have more syllables than the same concepts in English. In Japanese, every consonant is pronounced with a vowel (with the exception of the “n” sound, which is counted as a separate sound at the ends of words and in certain other cases, as already mentioned). Quite simply, because Japanese words have more syllables, you can say a lot more in 17 syllables in English than you can in Japanese. That’s why, if you write a 17-syllable haiku in English, more often than not one entire line of its three lines will have to be amputated to make the poem fit 17 sounds in Japanese (if you translate it). Thus, despite the way haiku has been widely mistaught in English for decades as 5-7-5 syllables, it actually should not surprise you that the vast majority of haiku published in leading haiku journals and anthologies are not 5-7-5.

Another factor to be aware of is that the misguided focus on 5-7-5 syllables in English puts excess emphasis on form, to the great detriment of content and other strategies necessary to writing haiku. Two of these strategies, often completely ignored and not taught in Western schools, are the use of a kigo, or season word, and a kireji, or cutting word, and they are just two of the vital aspects of haiku that make this art much more challenging than most people realize. In his book Empire of Signs, Roland Barthes said that “Haiku has this rather fantasmagorical property: that we always suppose we ourselves can write such things easily.” Specifically, a haiku tries to invoke the time of year with a word that is typical of that season, such as snow for winter, or frog for spring. In Japanese, lists of season words have become highly sophisticated, and have been collected into numerous references works called saijiki, which include the season words, explanations, and sample poems. Some saijiki (the word, like haiku, is both singular and plural) are as big as encyclopedias.

Saijiki are also available as dedicated electronic devices, or as applications for mobile phones and computers. Japanese haiku poets routinely consult a saijiki to see that they’ve used their kigo correctly. Season words serve not only to ground the poem in a particular season, but to allude to other poems that have employed the same season word. And then consider the kireji, which literally means “cutting word.” In Japanese, traditional haiku include words that function like a spoken sort of punctuation. More importantly, they cut the poem into two parts, creating a sort of juxtaposition, not only grammatically but also imagistically. The point is to carefully pair two images together in such a way that a shift or disjunction occurs between them. The art of haiku lies in creating the right amount of distance between the two parts, so the leap is neither too far (and thus obscure) or too close (and thus too obvious). By focusing on concrete images rather than judgment or analysis, the two juxtaposed parts of a haiku allow the reader to feel what the poet felt, without the poet telling the reader what to feel.

In fact, that’s a really good piece of advice to remember as you write your own haiku: Don’t write about your feelings. Instead, write about what caused your feelings. The point of haiku is indeed to convey feeling, not ideas, concepts, or judgments. Consider this haiku of mine, which won first place in the 2000 Henderson haiku contest, sponsored by the Haiku Society of America: How to Check Syllables for Haiku Poems in English | The Pen and The Pad How to Check Syllables for Haiku Poems in English by Stephanie Mitchell Haiku often uses nature imagery to reveal emotion. Related Articles Ideas for Haiku Poems When students are first introduced to the Japanese poetry form called haiku, they are usually taught a strict three-line structure: the first line has five syllables, the second line has seven and the third line again has five. However, English haiku do not necessarily need to adhere precisely to this structure. Japanese syllables are short and uniform while English syllables are less regular. Forcing the 17-syllable structure in an English haiku can jeopardize the essence of the poem (reference 2).

True haiku crystallize a moment into a single breath, whether in exactly 17 syllables or in fewer. Count the syllables in each line of the haiku. The first and third lines should have no more than five syllables, the second no more than seven. Read the poem aloud. Listen for syllables that contain diphthongs, such as "cloud," "row" or "mouth." These syllables are longer than the average Japanese syllable and can make a haiku line feel too long or crowded. Consider choosing words with shorter, simpler sounds to replace the long syllables or shortening the poem overall by trimming unnecessary words. Reread the haiku. The syllables should flow naturally. If any line sounds chewy, complex or wordy, revise it until it seems simple and clean. Remember that this sense of brevity is more important than the syllable count. (Reference 1) Tips According to the Haiku Society of America, to most closely match the feeling of the 17-syllable Japanese haiku, an English haiku should have about 12 syllables. (Reference 1) The content of a haiku is also more important than the syllable count.

Haiku should capture a single moment using specific images and sensations and they often include words that indicate a season. They seldom include figurative language (Reference 2). If you're writing a haiku as an assignment and your teacher wants you to use the traditional 17-syllable form, don't stray from it. Simply count the syllables in each line and make sure there are five in the first, seven in the second and five in the third. References About Haiku About Haiku Haiku: a one-breath poem that discovers connection. The foremost poets of Japanese haiku tradition are Bashô, Buson, Issa, Shiki . The first three were artists of haikai: masters of the linked verse game known as haikai no renku: renku for short. The fourth, Shiki, coined the term "haiku," and envisioned it as an independent poetic genre. While technically—that is to say, in Japanese terms—Bashô, Buson, and Issa were poets of haikai; the term "haiku" is used by many English speakers to describe what they wrote.

In other words, "haiku" in English covers a broader field than it does in Japanese, for it embraces both haikai and haiku. Throughout this website, I use the term "haiku" when referring to Issa. What makes it a poem? Haiku in English usually appears as an unrhymed three-line verse. Its use of intense, fragmentary imagery and its stress on rhythm and sound place it in the poetry side of the language spectrum. Can it be defined? Cyril Childs writes, "With haiku, how can we define (i.e. objectively set precise boundaries to) a poetic form that has developed and evolved over many centuries and continues to evolve across national boundaries and language barriers? How can we define inclusively each and every example of such a tradition and exclude others? I suggest the only answer to both questions is 'We can't.'" ( Presence 21 2003: 23).

Nevertheless, in 2004 the Haiku Society of America put forth this working definition: "A haiku is a short poem that uses imagistic language to convey the essence of an experience of nature or the season intuitively linked to the human condition." How many parts does it have? Though it can be presented on the page in three lines, a traditional Japanese haiku of Issa's era structurally consists of two parts with a pause in between. Its power as poetry often derives from juxtaposition of the two images and the sense of surprise or revelation that the second image produces. A good haiku is like a good joke: the set-up (image 1), then the punch line (image 2). An example from Issa: spring rain-- the uneaten ducks are quacking Two images appear: (1) spring rain falling, (2) the ducks that have survived the cooking pots of winter quacking. Considered alone, each image doesn't amount to much of a poem. But set side-by-side, the rain and the ducks make a powerful, celebratory statement about life, survival, and the promise of spring. Does a haiku need 17 syllables?

In Japan traditional haiku consists of seventeen "syllables" (onji) arranged in a 5-7-5 pattern. For example, here's the spring rain/quacking ducks poem in Japanese: harusame ya / kuware-nokori no / kamo ga naku Japanese words for the most part are polysyllabic, consisting of multiple syllables. English, in contrast, has loads of one syllable words ("spring," "rain" and "duck" for instance). For this reason, most haiku poets writing in English don't follow the 5-7-5 syllable rule. Seventeen syllables of English could potentially add up to seventeen separate words, making the "haiku" too long, lessening its intensity. Why is haiku taught in elementary school as a 17-syllable poem? In many school curricula haiku is used to give students practice in recognizing syllables and manipulating language. Teachers often ignore the most important formal requirement of haiku: two image/statements separated by a pause. They treat haiku as if it were a poetic form: any combination of words in a 5-7-5 combination.

In fact, haiku is a genre that requires much more than mere outer form. Does a haiku have to be about Nature? Only in the broadest sense, since human nature is included in Nature. In Japan, most haiku have a season word (kigo) that links the individual poem with the vast, archetypal round of the Year of Life. Is haiku a Buddhist genre? Because the originators of haiku were Buddhists, many Buddhist themes linger in the tradition, including respect for life, openness to the here and now, and a deep appreciation of how precious and fleeting life is. How should it be read? Issa, a master of the form, invites his readers to partake not of abstract ideas but of experience—palpable, wondrous encounters with life: a swallow flying out the nose of a great bronze Buddha, cows moo-mooing in thick autumn mist, a butterfly resting on a dog curled to sleep. One does not read such poetry in a greedy rush to understand a theme, a point, or a concept. Rather, we do best by Issa if we open ourselves to each haiku with the same non-grasping attention we might pay to a bird warbling in a tree.

After all, the poet insists, birdsong is haiku: like warbling pure haiku mountain cuckoo Like a bird twittering one-breath improvisations deep in the summer cedars on some shady, fathomless Japanese mountainside, Issa creates vivid, non-intellectual expressions of life on a living planet. The haiku moment awaits the reader who patiently allows words on the page to register as deeply felt reality. Here's a sampling of my own haiku... What Is a Syllable? - Graceguts Graceguts Copyright © 2009–2017 by Michael Dylan Welch 296days until the 2017 Seabeck Haiku Getaway in Seabeck, Washington (our TENTH anniversary retreat) 253days until the 2017 Haiku North America conference in Santa Fe, New Mexico 192days since What Is a Syllable? What Is a Syllable? First published in World Haiku Review 3:2, December 2003 (online). Originally written in September of 1994.

It seems relevant to mention that I studied linguistics and some speech pathology in college, and my Masters thesis focused on linguistics. See also “Go-Shichi-Go: How Japanese and English Syllables Differ.” + + The following poems have appeared in one of the two North American publications that promote the 5-7-5 syllable structure for haiku in English: stands thirsty and sweating in summer’s sizzling heat Tints surrounding clouds and hills Air charged with dust Take a moment to count the syllables of both poems. Considering just the number of syllables, at first glance these may seem to be traditional 5-7-5 haiku. This shouldn’t be a surprise given that the two verses appeared in David Priebe’s Haiku Headlines, which consistently offers a higher percentage of 5-7-5 poems than even Geppo, the publication of the Yuki Teikei Haiku Society that is fundamentally dedicated to the seventeen-syllable haiku form in English.

(“Teikei” literally means having a fixed form, and “yuki teikei” means “having a season word and traditional syllable count.”) But the truth is, these two poems are not 5-7-5, falling short by one syllable each—due, it would seem, to miscounted words. It is likely that their authors intended these poems as 5-7-5 (indicated in the first poem, for example, by the unnatural use of the preposition “in” at the end of the second line), but because they fall short, the apparent incorrect counting of syllables points up a misunderstanding of what a syllable is. The majority of literary haiku published in English today are not 5-7-5 (even in Geppo). In the second edition of Cor van den Heuvel’s The Haiku Anthology (Touchstone, 1986), 88.2 percent of the poems are not 5-7-5. And in Bruce Ross’s Haiku Moment (Tuttle, 1993), an even greater 96.5 percent of the poems are not 5-7-5.

A similar dominance of non-5-7-5 poems prevails in most of the leading English-language haiku journals. Which is all to say that, among published literary haiku today (and in recent decades), 5-7-5 haiku are vastly in the minority. But if the counting of syllables is important to conscientious “traditional” haiku poets, those poets should have a clear understanding of basic phonetics, and know how to identify syllables and count them correctly. Most English words are not a problem—they both look and sound like a specific number of syllables. The problem words in the preceding poems are “tired” and “charged.” They had to have been counted (incorrectly) as two syllables for the poems to scan as 5-7-5 (which was probably each poet’s intent). These words may look like two syllables, but a syllable is not defined by appearance or spelling—and this misconception needs correction. Rather, a syllable is properly understood as a unit of sound. This notion is easily confirmed without wading into linguistics textbooks, although, for those interested, such books are worth a look.

But a book as handy as Webster’s New World Dictionary (second college edition) defines a syllable as “a word or part of a word pronounced with a single, uninterrupted sounding of the voice.” It is further defined as a “unit of pronunciation, consisting of a single sound of great sonority (usually a vowel) and generally one or more sounds of lesser sonority (usually consonants).” A key part of this definition is “uninterrupted.” Without exploring the sciences of linguistics or phonetics too deeply [although you can get a taste at the Wikipedia article on syllables , and at LinguaLinks ], suffice it to say that consonants (spoken, not written) essentially interrupt the pronunciation of vowels. Vowels are a class of speech sounds generated by air passing continuously through the pharynx and open mouth without audible friction. Consonants, on the other hand, are mostly created in the mouth by blocking and releasing or directing air flow (voiced or unvoiced) by a variety of fricative or glottal means, and to varying degrees. With a correct understanding of the sounds that occur in words such as “charged,” the correct counting of syllables is more easily achieved.

For written words, Webster’s New World Dictionary defines a syllable as “any of the parts into which a written word is divided in approximate representation of its spoken syllables” (emphasis added). Similarly, Webster’s Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary identifies a syllable as “a unit of spoken language that is next bigger than a speech sound and consists of one or more vowel sounds alone or of a syllabic consonant alone or of either with one or more consonant sounds preceding or following.” Again, the emphasis is on sound. To properly count syllables for poems intended to fit a specific external form (such as 5-7-5 for so-called “traditional” haiku), the poet must count the syllables as they are spoken. To do otherwise is to misunderstand syllables and is a sign of poetic amateurism. If the reader expects the 5-7-5 form, such a miscounting of syllables on the poet’s part can create confusion or distrust, and decreases the poet’s credibility among educated or well-read readers. Nearly every issue of Haiku Headlines and Geppo contains poems that look like they were intended to be 5-7-5, yet are not because of miscounted syllables, so the problem persists.

Fortunately, this misunderstanding is easily corrected. A recent example of this problem happened at a Saturday-night renku party at the Yuki Teikei Haiku Society’s annual haiku retreat at Asilomar conference center near Monterey, California. I was asked to write (in seventeen syllables) the starting verse for a half-renku (omote awase) that the group wrote. My hokku, inspired by raccoons outside our meeting room: new log on the fire— the window streaked with paw prints from staring raccoons One poet (a native English speaker, no less) thought that my poem had too many syllables, believing that “streaked” amounted to two. But when syllables are understood as a spoken unit of measure, “streaked” is properly counted as just one syllable. A similar word that may be miscounted is “stacked.” As with “streaked,” it looks like two syllables. But the sound is not “stack-ked,” but “stact.” The spelling of a word is distinct from the sound of the word (or homonyms wouldn’t exist). These separate matters should not be confused when one is counting syllables for poetry.

And indeed, the problem extends beyond haiku to any metrical poetry calling for a specific syllable count. Understanding the nature of syllables and scansion is fundamental to writing any kind of formal poetry. Professional poets do not make these errors. Other problem words for some haiku poets—in addition to many words ending in -ed—include “fire” (sometimes thought of as two syllables, pronounced in some places as “figh-yer”—although such a pronunciation is nonstandard), “evening” (which may be thought of as “e-ven-ing” when it is really “eve-ning”—when one means the time of day), and “every” (sometimes thought of as “eh-va-ry” when the standard English pronunciation is “ev-ry”). These problem words suggest another factor that confuses the counting of syllables: regional dialect. Certain words may indeed be pronounced with more or fewer syllables in certain parts of the English-speaking world. So if the number of syllables in a haiku is important, how is a poet to handle words that may be said in two or more ways? One alternative might be to honor the regional pronunciation in a deliberately regional poem.

But to seek the greatest universality (one of haiku’s hallmarks), a better alternative might be to consult a reliable collegiate-level dictionary such as the two already cited. Every respectable dictionary not only lists the words, but also divides them into distinct syllables, either separated by a raised dot or indicated by accent marks. These divisions also show where words may be hyphenated at the end of a line of text. If in doubt about the number of syllables in a word, it’s easy to look it up. These divisions are based on comprehensive phonetic studies and common practice, and reliable dictionaries usually include an introductory or concluding essay on phonetics and the division of syllables that can give readers more information. The correct counting of syllables is easily done, and is in fact essential for the conscientious development of “traditional” English-language haiku written in the 5-7-5 pattern. For an overview of the function and variety of phonics in English-language haiku, a good source of information is Michael Seger’s essay, “Sound in Haiku,” in A Haiku Path, the 1994 retrospective book about the Haiku Society of America.

For a broader approach to the many aspects of poetry for the casual reader, college textbooks such as Laurence Perrine’s Literature: Structure, Sound, and Sense make for worthwhile reading. This textbook has been through many editions—and the latest edition may have a different title—but my edition (the fourth) has an excellent chapter on “Rhythm and Meter.” Anyone interested in formal poetry should learn the basics of scansion (necessary for writing haiku in a strict 5-7-5 pattern), and this book is a good place to start, offering many accessible longer poems for study. More technical books are also available on phonetics and linguistics. My point here is not to promote the “traditional” 5-7-5 form. Instead, by showing the difficulty some people have in understanding what a syllable is, my intent is to highlight one of the reasons why aiming for a strict 5-7-5-syllable form is problematic and inappropriate for English-language haiku. Other reasons include language and punctuation differences between Japanese and English, and the fact that the “thought content” in seventeen English syllables is typically greater than in seventeen Japanese sound symbols.

These and other reasons have been written about at greater length commonly enough that only those who are new to haiku are likely to be surprised by this assertion. Keiko Imaoka’s influential essay, “Forms in English Haiku,” first published in Woodnotes #29 (Summer 1996), cogently presents differences between English and Japanese syllabics and word order requirements, showing how the 5-7-5 pattern fits Japanese well enough, but fits very poorly for haiku in English. My personal preference is to write haiku using organic form—writing as organically as possible, seeking out the ideal internal form of expression in words that best fits the individual moment of experience and insight. In effect, this can mean “reinventing” the form for every poem you write. This can sometimes mean letting the form happen on its own, like letting water find its natural flow, but the form that results is not merely accidental. A more conscientious and disciplined poet makes active choices affecting the content and effect of the poem, and that’s how the form changes to whatever it needs to be.

You simply allow the content—what needs to be said to capture the image-moment in the haiku—shape your wording, syntax, and line breaks. Or, as the architect Louis Sullivan famously said, “form follows function.” This dictum guided the organic architecture of Sullivan’s student, Frank Lloyd Wright. (Denise Levertov has written at some length about organic form in poetry, and her essays build on the concepts of “inscape” and “instress” developed by Gerard Manley Hopkins.) Listening to what needs to be said, and applying other haiku strategies, such as seasonal reference, objectivity, and creating the two-part juxtapostional structure takes more discipline than merely counting syllables. I present these remarks here not in favor of the 5-7-5 pattern, but as a call to greater conscientiousness, understanding, and professionalism among “traditional” haiku poets who choose to count their syllables to fit a prescribed syllable count. I suspect that the problem applies to languages other than English, too. Misunderstanding what a syllable is suggests an amateurism that mainstream and academic poets and critics seem correct in holding against English-language haiku.

If poets writing to 5-7-5 syllables can at least avoid the amateurism of miscounting syllables, then perhaps haiku will gain greater respect as poetry and literature.

Question: How many 'syllables' should a Japanese Haiku poem contain?
Answer: 17